Everlasting Scars
by soccergurl382
Summary: Sequel to Permanent Wound. Still trying to maneuver her way around her complicated relationship with Lip, Tessa continues on with her life. But things take a turn for the worse when Liam gets into Fiona's coke and the Gallagher family dynamic is flipped upside down. Tessa isn't sure what to think when she sees how easily her and Lip fall into the roles of the new caretakers. Lip/OC
1. ONE

_A:N/ Welcome back! I'm glad everyone enjoyed the ending to Permanent Wound. For those of you just now joining, please make sure you go read Permanent Wound before you start this story. Please note that there's a three-month time gap between the end of season three and the beginning of season four, which I will be sticking with._

Tessa walked in the door of the Gallagher house and walked straight into the kitchen where Fiona and V were getting the food ready.

"You're pregnant?" Fiona asked. "How is that even possible?"

Veronica shrugged. "That's what I said. We can't afford to have two babies. We're barely gonna be able to afford to have one."

Tessa began to take her scarf off and looked back and forth between V and Fiona. "Uh…hi," she greeted. She had no idea what she had just walked in on.

"Oh hey Tessa," Fiona said with a grin.

Veronica smiled and explained to Tessa that she just found out she was pregnant.

"Congrats," Tessa said, putting her scarf over one of the chairs. She walked around the counter and sat down next to Veronica while Fiona continued to get the soda and food together.

"Have you told Kev yet?" Fiona asked. "What about your mom?"

"Oh, she gonna have to have an abortion. I can't have her nasty, Kev-mama baby staring up at me, not with my own Kev baby on my hip." V grinned and Tessa felt a little awkward in the conversation.

She thought back to three months ago when she had found out she was pregnant. No one knew about it. She hadn't even told Lip.

"I'll just end up hating the mama baby and accidentally on purpose run over it in the driveway," V continued.

Fiona's phone buzzed and she picked it up. She glanced at her friends. "It's Mike," she said. "He wants me to come over to his place tonight. Celebrate my three months at the company."

Tessa had heard a bit about Mike here and there but she knew Fiona was only trying to use him to get over Jimmy.

"Oh, celebrate how? By having you sit on his face?"

Tessa chuckled and rolled her eyes at V.

"Yeah, something like that."

"I still can't believe you haven't jumped his bones. He's not a bad looking guy," Tessa pointed out.

"You really haven't slept with him?" V asked.

"No, but I probably should soon." Fiona started to take the food out of the bags. Veronica grabbed a bag of fries and began to pick at them.

"He's already well past the whole two grand in meals thing for me having to put out."

"You make it sound like a chore," V scoffed. Tessa nodded in agreement.

"I know. It's crazy, but he's my boss, you know? I mean, what happens if we break up?" Fiona asked.

"Pretty sure he's the one banging an employee," Tessa pointed out.

"I think you're long past the 'what if we break up' point," said V.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Fiona continued to get the food out and walked over to the fridge.

"You should go. Tessa and I will keep an eye on the kids."

Tessa looked at V and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah…because I have no plans," she said sarcastically.

V rolled her eyes and told her to shut up. She knew Tessa didn't have to work tonight.

"Yeah, times two," Fiona joked.

V groaned and everyone turned to see Sheila coming downstairs with cleaning supplies and a trash bag full of garbage.

"All right, well, I'll be back tomorrow. I can tackle this whole kitchen area. It may take me a few days, but I will make this kitchen my bitch," Sheila said.

Tessa chuckled and glanced over at Fiona.

"Now, good night!" Sheila said before she left through the back door.

V raised her eyebrows at Fiona. "You hired Sheila to be your maid?" She asked.

"No," Fiona said, shaking her head. "She's just been hanging around. I think she's lonely." Fiona attempted to change the subject by talking about V being pregnant. "So when are you gonna tell Kev?"

"Hmm," V started. "I figured I'd give it a bit, see if this thing's still hanging around after a couple of months. I haven't exactly been fertile ground for planting little, baby Kev seedlings."

"You've got to tell him, V." Fiona gave Veronica a pointed look. "It's not fair to keep a secret."

Tessa bit the inside of her cheek and took began to chip away at the nail polish that was still left on her nails. Fiona knew nothing about the secret she had kept from Lip, but she knew that she would have only received a similar lecture if she did know.

"Shit," Fiona said, looking into the fridge.

Tessa looked up and saw Fiona with her hand on her hip.

"What are you looking for?" V asked.

"I thought we had some wine left. Did the two of us finish off an entire gallon of box wine the other night?" Fiona asked.

V furrowed her brows and shook her head. "No way. We definitely still had at least half the box left," she insisted.

Fiona sighed and closed the fridge. She looked at Tessa and she noticed a small amount of hopefulness in her eyes. "Hey have you heard from Ian at all lately?" Fiona asked.

She bit the inside of her cheek and shook her head. She had been about to ask Fiona the same question, but now she knew her answer. It had been a while since she had heard from Ian. In fact, it had been since Lip's graduation party and Tessa frowned at the realization. "I'm starting to worry," Tessa confessed.

"He's seventeen. I'm sure he's fine." It sounded like Fiona was trying to convince herself more than Tessa. "Debbie wants to file a missing persons report."

Tessa shrugged. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. She didn't know what Ian was off doing. She was still worried about his mental state after the wedding fiasco with Mickey, even if he had insisted that he was over it. "Maybe she's right," Tessa said.

Fiona rolled her eyes. "God, don't let her hear you say that. She's been hanging out with Holly and it's been driving me insane. She's been acting like…like…" Fiona made a frustrated noise.

"Like a teenager?" V finished.

"She's wearing the slutty clothes and the tacky make-up. It's awful."

"And I'm sure you never did that when you were thirteen?" Tessa asked with a chuckle.

Fiona didn't answer but instead shoved a French fry into her mouth.

"How about I talk to her or have her over for a little make-over? I'm sure she'd like to hang out and I've gotten some good make-up since working at the club." Tessa assumed Debbie would be happy to spend time with her, but she couldn't be too sure now that she was going through this phase Fiona was ranting about. She might just want to spend time with her own friends. But Tessa had promised Debbie to make an effort ever since her and Lip had ended things.

Her and Lip had hung out a few times between his graduation party and his departure to college. Tessa had been disappointed when he had decided not to go to M.I.T. but instead pursue an education at Chicago Polytechnic. His reasoning had been the same as usual; his family needed him. Although since he had left for college she hadn't seen much of him. Classes had been keeping him busy but they texted here and there.

Tessa had tried to distance herself from Lip after she had found out she was pregnant. A trip to the doctor had confirmed what those three positive tests had told her and she had left feeling numb. She couldn't believe she was pregnant. She had always been so careful and so insistent about protection. It hadn't been until a few days later that she realized it must have been the night she hooked up with Lip when she had been drunk. Tessa had told Sam but had refused to tell anyone in the Gallagher household, afraid that Lip would find out.

While Sam's morals were questionable, even she thought Tessa should at least talk to Lip about it. Tessa's fear was Lip wanting to drop out of college and have the kid. Tessa was only a year older than Lip and she had no desire to have kids, let alone when she was this young. A few weeks later Tessa made the appointment and solved her problem before it could get much bigger. She never told Lip. She never told Fiona. Sam always nagged her about telling Lip but Tessa always ignored her. She didn't see the point in bringing up an issue that was no longer present. She didn't see the point in causing drama over nothing.

V snapped her fingers in front of Tessa's face. "Earth to Tessa!" She yelled.

Tessa looked over at V then over at Fiona. They were both looking at her expectantly. "What?" She asked.

"Where the hell did you just go?" Fiona asked with a laugh.

Tessa ran a hand through her hair and stood up. "Somewhere more interesting," she joked. "Look, you go to Mike's and jump his bones and V and I will handle things here." Tessa gave Fiona a pointed look.

Fiona laughed and nodded. "Alright I got it," she said. "You sure you two are okay?"

V and Tessa exchanged glances. "I think we can handle it."

Fiona disappeared upstairs to start getting ready. "We're gonna want details!" Tessa yelled after her.

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A few days later Tessa sat in her apartment with Debbie. The red head hadn't been totally crazy about the idea at first, but after a failed attempt at getting Fiona to allow her to go on the pill, she decided that talking to Tessa might not be such a bad idea.

Tessa was currently painting Debbie's toes a bright pink that she had picked out. Debbie was sitting still but picking at the fake nail Holly had helped her put on a few days ago. "Have you talked to Lip lately?"

The brunette was concentrating on keeping the polish on the nail, so she didn't bother looking up. "Nope," she said, popping the 'p'.

"I thought you guys were good?" Debbie asked.

Tessa put the brush in the bottle to get more nail polish. She looked at Debbie who now had her arms folded across her chest. "We're friends," she said. Tessa returned her attention to Debbie's toes.

Debbie sighed. "Holly says guys and girls can't just be friends."

"Well Holly doesn't really know everything, Debbie," Tessa pointed out after she rolled her eyes.

Leaning back on the couch, Debbie scoffed. Fiona didn't like Holly and now Tessa didn't. Her sister and Tessa just didn't understand how helpful Holly was being, especially when it was coming to Matt.

"But we don't need to talk about Lip," Tessa said.

"But I want to," Debbie said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Tessa gave Debbie a pointed look. "Why?" She asked. "We've had this conversation a million times, Debs. He's at school. I'm here. We're not doing the long distance thing."

"He's still in Chicago," Debbie said with a scoff.

She was growing irritated with Debbie's attitude very quickly. Tessa put the nail polish brush back into the bottle and set the bottle back on the table. "He's away. He's not home. He's a freshman in college." Tessa stopped herself. She didn't even know why she was explaining herself to Debbie. Tessa made a frustrated noise and shook her head. "Debbie…just drop it. Okay?"

Debbie looked pissed but Tessa didn't care. She didn't know what was going on with Debbie but she found her prying to be very annoying. "So who's the new boy?" Tessa asked, attempting to change the subject.

"What?" Debbie asked.

"The boy. You know, the one that dropped you off the other night. Kev said he had a pizza thing on his car or something." Tessa sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. Now it was her turn to grill Debbie on a boy.

"Oh…" she trailed off and started to pick at her nail. "That's just Matt. He's really nice."

Tessa nodded. "Is that why you wanted Fiona to let you go on the pill?"

Debbie's head snapped up and she looked at Tessa. "She told you about that?" She asked. Debbie didn't know if she was more furious or relieved. She wanted to talk to Tessa about it but had been too embarrassed to bring the topic up. But she was also pissed at Fiona for telling Tessa about such a personal conversation.

Tessa shrugged, not giving Debbie a straight answer even though she knew it would only annoy her. "So?" Tessa probed.

"So I should be able to go on the pill if I want to. I mean, I'm thirteen now," Debbie began. "Wouldn't Fiona rather have me being safe than anything?"

She fought the urge to shutter at the idea of Debbie having sex. "Dude, you're thirteen. You do not need to be having sex," Tessa said with a pleading look on her face.

"Well how old were you when you first had sex?" Debbie asked.

Tessa's eyebrows shot up at the bluntness of Debbie's question. She thought about lying or simply not answering her, but truth be told, her answer wasn't a horrible one. She certainly hadn't been thirteen. "I was actually sixteen," Tessa said.

Debbie's eyebrows shot up, mirroring Tessa's previous actions. "Why did you wait that long?"

Tessa scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Sixteen is still young Debbie," she pointed out. "And I waited because that was my choice. But you know what? I don't even remember the first time I had sex. I got drunk after my mom split and went to a party," Tessa said. "It was consensual but other than that I don't remember it."

"You should wait until you find someone," Tessa explained.

"But Matt is my someone. He's so sweet and nice and he treats me like an adult and not some little kid," Debbie gushed.

Tessa quirked a brow. "And how old is he?" She asked.

"Oh," Debbie said, beginning to panic. She sure as hell wasn't going to tell Tessa that Matt was twenty. "He's fifteen," she lied.

Tessa didn't believe her but she would have to wait for another opportunity to ask about Matt's age. She made a mental note to tell Fiona about her suspicion though.

"Well," Tessa began. "You're still too young. I agree with your sister that you should wait."

Debbie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You guys just don't understand."

Tessa laughed and threw her head back. "Oh my GOD." She looked over at Debbie with a smile. "Come on Debs, I expected a better line from you. None of that cliché teenager shit."

Even though she tried not to, Debbie smiled at Tessa's words.

"How about next time you have a date with Matt, you let me do your make-up instead of Holly?" Tessa suggested.

"Okay," Debbie agreed after thinking about it for a moment. She would have to make sure Holly didn't know about the date because she didn't want her getting mad at her. However, Debbie did want Tessa to help her out. Debbie looked up to Tessa and thought Tessa was beautiful and she almost never wore make-up, but when she did it looked great. "But you don't even really wear make-up," Debbie pointed out.

"I wear eyeliner," Tessa said. "I just don't wear mascara because I'm always pulling at my eyelashes."

Debbie chuckled. "I've actually noticed that before," she said.

Tessa grinned and was about to ask Debbie to promise not to do anything with Matt without talking to her, but her phone buzzed on the table, catching her attention. She reached over and grabbed it, noticing that it was a text from Lip.

Debbie tried to see who it was, even though she was sitting across from Tessa on the couch. "Who is it?" she asked. "Is it Lip?"

Rolling her eyes, Tessa nodded. "If you must know," she said with a sigh.

"What did he say?" She pried.

"He said 'hey'," Tessa said. She showed Debbie the text in case she didn't believe her. "I know it's super exciting and all that you hoped it would be, right?" She asked, sarcasm clear in her voice.

She pulled the phone back and replied to Lip before she set the phone back down on the table.

"That's it?" Debbie cried.

"What do you mean?" Tessa asked.

"I mean, where's the romance? Where's the yearning?" She asked, a dramatic tone in her voice.

Tessa rolled her eyes and threw a couch pillow at Debbie's head. "You dork. I told you. We're just friends."

"I don't believe you," she said.

"Well I don't really care," she said in a singsong voice. Her phone buzzed again and she snatched it off the table before Debbie could grab it.

"Now what did he say?" She asked.

Tessa read his text to herself. _I bombed my first English paper. Bullshit, right?_ Tessa sighed and began to type back a reply. She bet he didn't even try. He was so used to not having to do any work in high school. She had tried to tell him that college would be different but he had dismissed her warnings.

 _Bummer. Put any effort into it?_ Tessa asked.

"What are you guys saying!?" Debbie asked. She got up from her spot on the couch and walked down to Tessa's end. She tried looking at her phone but Tessa held it close to her chest. The conversation wasn't private, but she liked annoying Debbie. "Come on!" She complained.

 _Trying to talk to Debbie. I'll text you later._ She quickly sent the text to Lip before she shut her phone off and put it on the table.

"Come on!" She said, getting up from her spot. She put her hands on Debbie's shoulders and began to usher her out of her living room and down the hall. "Let me do something with your hair."

 _A:N/ I know there wasn't any Lip/Tessa interaction in this chapter but Lip didn't really do much in the first few episodes other than suck at college. Lip and Tessa will have contact, but the first few chapters will focus on Tessa's relationships with the other Gallaghers. What did you guys think?! Reviews get quicker updates._


	2. TWO

_A:N/ I'm so glad everyone liked the first chapter! I'm also thrilled to see so many people are back for the sequel. Also, chapters will be a weekly thing but depending on the amount of reviews (like the first chapter, 19, you guys are amazing) you may get it a day or so early._

Tessa walked through the front door and saw Frank chugging some disgusting drink. She scrunched up her nose in disgust and took in everything else in front of her. She saw Carl giving beer to a dog sitting in Liam's highchair. She saw Sheila sitting at the counter on her iPad and Debbie sitting at the table doing homework. Fiona was in the kitchen cleaning up from dinner and probably getting lunch together for tomorrow.

"And I keep getting pictures of men in their underpants with bulges. I…I have no idea what DTF meant," Sheila whined.

Tessa chuckled and went to sit down next to Debbie at the table.

"Holly says it a lot. I'm not sure what it stands for," Debbie said.

"Down to fuck," Tessa explained, pulling out her phone from her pocket.

She heard Sheila gasp and Debbie giggle.

"Hey Tessa, how have you been?" Fiona asked, moving about the kitchen.

"Fine," she said. "Just working."

Fiona went to continue the conversation but her phone began to ring. She smiled and answered it. "Hey, kid! How's higher learning?" Fiona asked.

Tessa assumed that Fiona was talking to Lip and she looked over at what Debbie was doing. "I hated chemistry," she said.

Debbie sighed. "My teacher sucks," she began. "He's so old I can't even understand him half the time."

"Well I can always try to help you if you need it," Tessa offered.

"Thanks," Debbie said.

"So how are things with Matt?" Tessa asked, making her tone a little softer.

Debbie smiled. "Good. He cooked me dinner the other night."

Tessa grinned. "Wow. That's nice. Was it any good?"

"Yeah he made chicken and green beans," Debbie recalled. "It was good and we watched storage wars."

Tessa nodded and looked up and heard Fiona say, "Well, Debbie uses it for school, and Carl uses it for porn. Uh, can you borrow one from over there?"

"He need the laptop?" Tessa asked.

Fiona nodded her head.

"He can come grab mine. I barely use it. So long as he doesn't break it," she offered.

"Oh Tessa said you can use hers," Fiona added. There was a moment of silence and Tessa assumed Lip was talking. "He'll text you," Fiona said.

Tessa nodded and looked back at Debbie who was wiggling her eyebrows. Tessa rolled her eyes. "What now?"

"Sharing a laptop with Lip?" Debbie asked. "That's cute."

Tessa frowned. "Finish your homework."

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"Coming!" Tessa yelled as she walked down the hallway towards her door. Sam was working so she knew it wasn't her at the door. She hadn't heard from Fiona in a few days and was actually getting a little worried. When she had last asked her about how things with Mike had been going, she had acted strange and changed the topic.

Tessa opened the door and saw Lip standing there. She offered him a smile and stepped off to the side so he could come inside. "Here for the laptop?" She asked. Tessa turned around and went towards her bedroom to grab the laptop for him. She didn't bother turning to see if he was following her because she could hear his footsteps.

"Something else, actually." His voice was very close behind her and she turned to see Lip only a few inches away from her.

Grabbing her face, Lip crushed her lips with his own.

Tessa should have pushed him away but instead she latched onto him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer so their bodies were pressed against one another.

Lip backed her up until the back of her knees touched her bed and he pushed her down. After taking off his shirt and jeans, Lip climbed on top of Tessa and began to kiss her stomach, pushing her shirt up as he did so. Once he reached her bra, he pulled her top off and tossed it off to the side.

She pulled his face towards her and kissed him, suddenly realizing how much she had missed kissing him.

While his mouth remained attached to hers, his hands worked on pushing her jeans down as far as he could get them. When he could no longer push them down, he pulled away and leaned back and sat on his calves to pull them off. Then he quickly tugged her underwear off, not wanting to prolong his desire.

"Fuck, I missed you," he said through labored breathing as he looked down at her body.

Finally he leaned forward and pushed himself into her, swearing under his breath. Tessa quickly inhaled at the sensation of him filling her.

Lip began to pump in and out of Tessa while peppering kisses along her neck and trying to control his breathing. A moment later she felt him twitch inside of her and he quickly came, groaning and resting his face in the crook of her shoulder.

He pulled out and rolled over onto his back. "Shit, sorry," he said. "Been a while," he confessed.

Tessa looked over at him and quirked an eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me there's no slutty college girls you've banged?"

He laughed and tried to catch his breath. "No," he said. "Well. I tried with my tutor for extra credit but she was into some other dude."

She pursed her lips at his confession, but knew that at least he hadn't done anything. On the plus side, he had also told her about it. She wondered if he was actually trying not to hook up with any other girls on campus or if he simply hadn't been having any luck.

"I still just want you," he said, as if he had read her mind.

Tessa chuckled and sat up. "Shit," she swore. "You didn't use a condom." She gave him a pointed look.

"Oh," he said. Lip didn't look the least bit worried.

Quirking her eyebrow, Tessa crawled out of bed. "Oh?" She asked. "Did you not use a condom on purpose?" She reached down and grabbed one of the large t-shirts that she used to sleep in and pulled it on.

He sat up a little and shrugged. "Well no, but…you never know. Ever think about having a little rugrat running around?"

Tessa folded her arms over her chest and frowned. "No," she said, shaking her head. "Not to mention I wouldn't have a kid while you're away at college or have a kid because then you'd definitely drop out of college." This was getting a little too close to home for Tessa, considering what she had done a few months ago.

Lip sighed and got out of bed, finding his boxers and pulling them on. "I'm dropping out anyway. That place just isn't for me."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Tessa asked, glaring at Lip.

"No?" He said. "It's my choice."

"You should leave before I punch you in the fucking face," she snapped. Tessa stormed out of her room and into the bathroom.

Lip followed her. "Why are you so pissed? Is it because of the condom thing? Is it because I might actually want to have a kid with you?"

Tessa turned and glared at him. "That's not what you want. You want to use a kid to use as an excuse to leave college; to give up. But second of all, you don't have to worry about anything because I'm taking the birth control shots."

Lip's face became confused. "Since when?" he asked.

"Why does it matter?" She asked.

"You weren't getting the shots when we were together. So what the fuck changed?"

She ran a hand through her hair, wanting to pull it out in frustration. _'You knocked me up, that's what changed,'_ Tessa thought. "Because I didn't want something like this happening, okay?" She snapped.

Lip scoffed and shook his head. "Right. Because it makes sense to go on birth control _after_ you break up with someone." He glared at Tessa. "If you're fucking someone else, just tell me," he snapped.

"I'm not!" She snapped back. "And even if I was, it would be none of your god damn business!" She yelled at him.

"Of course it's my god damn business!" Lip yelled. "I'm not hooking up with anyone at school for _you_!"

Tessa couldn't even yell at him that she had never asked him to do that, because in a way, she had. She clenched her jaw and shook her head.

"Just fucking admit it!" Lip yelled. He walked around the bed and got closer to her so they were only a few feet apart.

She snapped and before she knew it, she had punched Lip in the face. He fell back onto her bed and he looked up at her in shock. He touched his face and his nose was bleeding a little bit, but for the most part she had gotten his eye.

"I am not sleeping with anyone else," she seethed. "And now I want you out of my fucking house." Tessa pointed towards her bedroom door, showing him that he needed to leave.

Lip glared and picked up his clothes, pulling his jeans on and then his shirt. He stormed out of her apartment and slammed the door shut.

The sound scared Tessa and she found herself sinking to the floor out of exhaustion. A sob escaped her mouth and she quickly covered her mouth to prevent another one from leaving.

It had all been too much. There had been so many times where she had almost yelled at him that he had gotten her pregnant and that she had gotten rid of it. She would do it again in a heartbeat if the situation presented itself again. She refused to let Lip use her as an escape from any college responsibilities. He was going to go back and he was going to finish school.

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A few days passed and she hadn't heard anything from Lip. She supposed that was a good thing since she didn't want to fight with him. Their fights always seemed to be more exhausting than they should be.

Tessa had thrown herself into work, taking doubles at the diner whenever she couldn't get extra shifts at the club. The club had slowed down since it was winter and the outdoor patio was closed. The tips were still better than the ones she got at the diner, but Tessa couldn't afford to only work at the club.

She just got out of work when her phone began to ring. Pulling it out of her bag, she looked to see who it was. Lip. She glared at the phone in her hand. After letting it ring for a bit, she finally picked it up.

"I'm not talking to you until you go back to school." Tessa hung up the phone before Lip could say anything.

Tessa got into her car and her phone began to ring again. It was no surprise that it was Lip calling her again. She played with the idea of ignoring it and letting him leave a voicemail, but decided to see what he had to say.

"Did you go back to school?" She asked.

She heard Lip huff in frustration. "Yes, okay?"

He seemed to be in a bad mood, but Tessa didn't care. She was just happy that he had finally gotten some sense knocked into him, maybe quite literally since she had punched him a few days prior, and had returned to school.

"Then how may I help you, Mr. Gallagher?" She asked, making her tone sweet.

"When was the last time you heard from Ian?" Lip asked.

Tessa frowned. If Lip was calling about Ian that meant that they still hadn't heard from him either. That wasn't good. "Your graduation party," Tessa confessed.

"Fuck," Lip swore. "He took my name and social and signed up with the Army. Now he's AWOL."

"What?!" Tessa gasped.

"Yeah. Fucking Military Cops showed up at my school looking for me," he explained. "I'm gonna go see if Mickey has heard from him."

"He hasn't," she said. "He was trying to be subtle a week or so ago by asking if anyone had heard anything from Ian."

"Well I'm going to still try."

Tessa pursed her lips. She wasn't crazy about the idea of Lip going over to Mandy's house, even if it was to talk to her brother. She just didn't get a good feeling when she thought about him going over there.

"Keep me updated?" Tessa asked.

"Uh yeah," Lip said.

Tessa hung up the phone and tossed it back into her purse. She leaned back in her seat and took in a deep breath. If Ian was missing then she was going to worry until they found him. If Lip was going to ask Mickey then maybe she could try to ask anyone else. She knew that if she went home and did nothing, it would just drive her crazy.

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Looking down at the iPhone ping Debbie had sent her, Tessa walked down the street towards her destination. A few hours after she had gotten off the phone with Lip, Debbie had texted her saying that it was an emergency and that she needed her to meet her somewhere. Instead of trying to get details from her, Tessa had simply dropped what she was doing and left to find Debbie.

Her surroundings were becoming a little sketchier and she quickly realized she was in Boystown. Why the hell was Debbie telling her to meet her in Boystown? Her phone buzzed and she looked down, realizing that she had reached her final destination. She looked around but didn't see Debbie anywhere. However, she did see that she was standing in front of a gay club called the White Swallow. "Good grief," she mumbled.

"Tessa!" The sound of someone calling her name made her glance around. She finally spotted Debbie running towards her and she smiled. Her smile began to fade slightly when she noticed Lip walking behind her. Why had Debbie insisted on her coming here if she was with her brother?

Debbie got to Tessa and she smiled. "Thanks for coming," she said.

"Uh huh," Tessa said. She gave Debbie a skeptical look. "And what's this emergency you told me about? I was under the impression you were stuck somewhere, but it appears you already have a chaperone?"

"We're looking for Ian. I thought it might help for you to be here," she confessed.

"Debbie," Tessa said with a sigh. "I don't think you need me here. You have Lip."

Lip finally caught up to the two girls and he glanced at Tessa. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Ask your sister," she said, shooting Debbie a look.

Lip looked down at Debbie and raised his eyebrow. "I just thought she could help," she said.

"Ian's supposed to be here?" Tessa asked, glancing at the club.

He sighed. "I guess."

"And you think bringing a thirteen year old inside is a good idea?" Tessa asked.

"Well I guess we could tie her up to the light post and leave her outside," Lip joked.

Tessa and Debbie glared at him.

"Hilarious," Tessa deadpanned. She shoved Lip closer to the door and wrapped her arm around Debbie's shoulder.

Once inside they were hit with the bright lights and loud music. Tessa glanced around to look for Ian but didn't see him after they had descended from the stairs. She kept her grip tight on Debbie, not wanting her to get lost in this type of crowd.

Debbie and Tessa finally spotted Ian behind the bar. He was wearing a silver sparkly tank top and his hair was slicked back. He looked happy but he didn't look like himself.

He did a double take and he realized that the people staring at him were ones that he knew.

"Does he know it's us?" Debbie asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Lip waved his hand at Ian. "Yo!"

Ian grinned. "What's up!?" He yelled.

The three of them walked over to the bar and Ian met them near the bar's entrance. Lip went to give his brother a hug but Ian had his hands raised in the air for a double high-five.

"Oh," Lip said, not expecting the overzealous greeting.

"Debbie! Oh my gosh!" He hugged and kissed his sister. "You look great!" He exclaimed.

"Thank you," she said with a forced smile. "You do too."

"And Tessa! Wow I've missed you!" He engulfed her in a hug and she patted his back lightly. She could see Lip smirking and she glared at him.

One of Ian's co-workers walked by and he stopped him. "This is my brother and sister and one of my best friends. This is family!"

"Hey," the other bartender greeted.

"Hey, how long you been working here, huh?" Lip asked.

"A couple weeks," he answered. "This place, it's awesome. It's…it's super convenient. You guys want drinks? They're on the house," Ian gushed.

"No, I'm good. I'm good," Lip insisted.

"Appletini, Appletini!" Ian said, going to stand behind the bar again.

"No," Lip said again.

"Three appletinis," he said pointing at all three of them.

"Okay," Debbie said with an uncomfortable tone.

"Probably going to need a drink for this anyway," Tessa pointed out, leaning closer to Debbie so she could hear her.

"Hey, Ian, is there anyplace we could talk?" Lip asked.

"Oh! I love this song!" Ian said, completely ignoring Lip.

"Yeah, look. Some army MPs came by looking for you. They want to arrest you for going AWOL – stealing government property."

Tessa's eyes widened and she looked at Lip. He hadn't told her any of this. She wondered how long he had known about it and why the army had gone to Lip looking for Ian.

Ian held up the vodka he was using for their drinks and pointed to it. "This is top shelf," he explained.

"No, hey, did…did you hear me? They say you stole a helicopter." Tessa could tell that Lip was getting frustrated. She knew that if he snapped everything would go to hell and they could possibly risk not being able to find Ian again.

"That's hilarious," he gushed.

"Is it?" Lip asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I mean, I didn't steal anything. I just started the rotors," he explained like it was no big deal. "Hey, can you guys hang around for a while? My shift gets off at 2:00, but I always go out after or hit the local gym, depending on how pumped I am. But seeing you guys, I...I just feel great, you know?" He was beginning to ramble on as he poured their drinks.

"Okay, you know what, hey, let's go outside so we can hear each other, huh?"

Ian placed their drinks down on the bar and pushed them towards Lip, Debbie and Tessa.

"Try your drink," he insisted.

"No, outside," Lip demanded. Ian began to walk away and Lip grabbed at his brother. "Come on, come here."

A bodyguard walked up behind Lip and began to grab at Lip. "Hey, get your hand off him."

"No, it's fine, it's okay. We're brothers, all right? We're just talking," he explained. "Yo, Ian!" He yelled after his brother

Tessa picked up her drink and downed it as quickly as possible. She had never been one for fruity drinks but Ian had done a pretty good job. However, she had just been in need of the alcohol. Debbie went to reach for her drink but Tessa slapped her hand away.

Debbie glared at Tessa and opened her mouth to protest but the bodyguard interrupted her. "And I definitely need some ID." He began to tug at Debbie.

"Hey let go of her!" Tessa yelled.

Lip continued to try to get Ian's attention to no avail, but Tessa had given up and was trying to get the large man to release Debbie from his grasp. He finally pushed them down the hall and Tessa glared at him.

"Why was he acting like that?" Debbie asked.

"It's late. We should go," Lip said, ignoring her question.

"Is there something wrong with him?" She asked.

"At least we know where he is now, okay? I'll come back and check on him. Let's get you home, though, all right? Come on." He ushered Debbie out the door and Tessa trailed behind them. She glanced behind her to see if she could see Ian, but she had no luck.

Once the three of them were outside, Tessa sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Thanks," Debbie said, turning to look at Tessa.

She shrugged, not sure why Debbie was thanking her. She hadn't done anything spectacular to help. "Do you guys want a ride home?" She asked.

"Can we stop at the grocery store so I can get a birthday cake for Fiona?" Debbie asked.

"Of course," Tessa said, offering Debbie a small smile. She glanced at Lip who had lit up a cigarette during their brief exchange.

The three of them began to walk towards Tessa's car, with Tessa walking next to Debbie and Lip trailing behind the two of them, smoking his cigarette.

They got to her car and climbed inside. She was thankful that Lip put his cigarette out before he got in, since she didn't really want to have to talk to him. Tessa sped off towards the grocery store so Debbie could get the cake.

"I'll be right back," Debbie said, unbuckling her seatbelt. Tessa wanted to protest, but knew it would only make Debbie question everything.

"Oh wait." Tessa dug into her pocket and pulled out some money and handed it to Debbie. "I didn't get Fiona a birthday present. Use this for the cake," she said.

Debbie thanked her and got out of the car to go get the cake.

There was an awkward silence between Lip and Tessa. He was staring out his window and she was staring through the windshield, hoping Debbie didn't take too long in the store.

"I think Ian's like Monica."

His words broke the silence and Tessa turned to look at him. She had to take a minute to comprehend what he had said. "What do you mean?"

"I think he's bi-polar. He just didn't seem like Ian."

Tessa sighed and started to make indents on her steering wheel with her fingernail. "We'll get him home and figure things out from there," she said. "Getting him away from Monica is probably a good first step," she said through a sigh.

There was another awkward silence between the two, but this time it was Tessa that spoke up.

"I'm glad you went back to school."

Lip released a dry chuckle. "You weren't the only one chewing my ass out over not going back. Kev did a pretty decent job too."

Tessa smiled. "Someone's got to keep you in line."

"That's what you're for," he said, looking over at her with a smirk.

"Oh my bad," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Must be why college just isn't working out for you."

Lip laughed. "See? I'm not wrong."

Tessa rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Whatever you say, Lip."

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Tessa pulled up in front of the Gallagher house and put her car in park but didn't turn it off. Debbie began to get out of the car but paused. "Aren't you coming in?" she asked.

She hummed in response and pulled the key out of the ignition. Truth be told, she had spaced out.

Tessa walked towards the house but Lip and Debbie were ahead of her. Debbie was already up the stairs when Lip called for his sister's attention.

"Thanks for coming with me today," Lip said to Debbie.

She smiled at her brother. "Yeah, thanks for letting me."

Tessa smiled and was glad that Lip had reached out to Debbie. She was glad that he hadn't gone searching for Ian on his own. She knew he could have handled it no matter what, but it made her feel better knowing that he would have had some sort of support, even if it was his little sister.

The three of them walked inside and everyone began chanting about the cake. Debbie walked into the kitchen to put the cake away.

Fiona smiled at Tessa and Lip. She was dancing away and Tessa guessed she was already fairly drunk.

"Where have you been?" Fiona asked.

"Oh, we were just on a little adventure. I'll tell you about it later," he said.

"Well, looks like somebody's gonna get to keep their job!" Fiona cheered.

"Oh, no shit, that's great," Lip said.

Tessa raised an eyebrow, wondering what had happened for Fiona's job to be in jeopardy in the first place. However, it was Fiona's birthday and she didn't want to ruin it by asking about something that could possibly put her in a sour mood.

"Fiona!" Debbie cried from the kitchen.

Fiona rushed into the kitchen and saw Debbie leaning over a passed out Liam.

"Oh my god," Debbie said.

Tessa and Lip rushed into the kitchen, not too far behind Fiona.

"Oh, shit," Fiona said. She put her cup on the washer and knelt down next to Debbie.

"What's on his face?" Debbie asked.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god." Fiona kept going on and on. Tessa covered her mouth when she saw the empty bag Fiona picked up that had been next to Liam.

He had taken drugs. If Frank had brought drugs into the house she was going to kill him. She knew the other Gallagher siblings would already be way ahead of her, but she didn't care. She couldn't believe he could be so careless.

"Step back, step back," V said, pushing everyone out of the way.

"Call 911," Tessa said, shaking Lip's arm. He immediately took out his phone and dialed the number, but his eyes stayed locked on his unconscious little brother.

"Oh, my god," Fiona cried. "He's not breathing."

"Liam? Liam? Liam?" V called out, trying to wake the toddler. "Step back, give him some room. Liam?"

"Oh my god," Fiona cried.

The ambulance finally arrived and everyone quickly moved out of the way so the paramedics could do their job.

"BP is 200 over 120. Heart rate's 130. What'd he take?"

"Coke! He got into my coke," Fiona answered, he voice shaky.

"How much?" The paramedic asked.

"A half-gram, maybe more. I don't know."

The paramedics picked Liam up. "Coming through," they announced.

"He gonna be okay? He's gonna be okay, though, right?" Fiona asked.

"Yeah, clear the way, please," the paramedic insisted. "Coming through! Three-year-old male, cocaine ingestion. BP's 200 over 120. HR is 130."

They loaded him into the ambulance and Fiona climbed in after them. She turned and looked at everyone standing outside.

No one could believe what had just happened. Tessa felt a tear roll down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away.

"I'll get the truck," Kev announced.

"Lip, let's go," Tessa said, tugging on his hand.

They rushed over to her car, which was thankfully not blocked by the fire engine. They climbed in and Debbie had climbed into the back seat.

"Where's Carl?" Tessa asked as she started her car.

"With V," Debbie said through a sob.

Satisfied with Debbie's answer, she took off towards the hospital, breaking speed limits without caring.

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They all sat in hospital chairs, waiting as patiently as they possibly could. Fiona was off talking to a nurse and Tessa had no idea where Lip had disappeared.

She finally spotted Lip and she could see the empty look on his face. He approached Fiona and she saw them talking but was unable to hear anything.

Debbie, Carl, Kev and V all rose from their seats to see what Fiona had to say so Tessa thought it was okay if she did too.

"I was watching him at the party," Fiona insisted. "I thought he was in the living room."

No one was offering her kind words. Tessa could see a hint of anger on Lip's face and she fought the urge to grab his hand.

"Excuse me, Liam?" Fiona asked, grabbing a nurse that walked by. "Liam Gallagher?"

"Have a seat," she said. "Someone will be out with you in a minute." The nurse avoided eye contact and quickly walked away.

"What was that?" Fiona asked, turning back to everyone else.

"Who's Fiona?" A police officer asked, walking towards the group with a second officer by his side.

"That's me."

"Put your hands behind your back," he ordered. He pulled out his cuffs and Tessa felt her eyes go wide.

"What?!" She asked.

"Fiona Gallagher, you have the right to remain silent," he began to read Fiona her rights.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on?" Kev began, but the other officer held him back.

"Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand your rights as I've read them to you?"

The officer started to push Fiona down the hallway and she looked back at everyone. Her eyes showed how scared she was.

Debbie, Carl, Kev and V all walked down the hallway following the officers and Fiona, but Tessa stood by Lip's side.

The two stayed in place and just stared at everyone that followed after Fiona. Tessa didn't know what to do. Fiona was her friend but she didn't know how she was going to forgive her for something like this. She knew that Lip was thinking the same and that's why she had stayed with him. Despite their recent fight, Tessa knew Lip would need her help and she was going to do everything she could for them.

 _A:N/ Nice and long chapter! What did you guys think? I'm finally at the part I've been the most excited to write for a while. Let's just say, Lip and Tessa playing house is basically going to be relationship goals. Please leave me a review!_


	3. THREE

Tessa and Lip had been sitting in an abandoned hospital hallway for what felt like days, though in reality it had only been a few hours. The nurses hadn't been out to give an update in at least two hours.

Kev and V had returned a while later with Debbie and Carl after watching Fiona being taken away in the cop car, but neither Tessa nor Lip had paid them much attention. Tessa and Lip had remained sitting in their silence. Tessa wasn't sure that she had even blinked since sitting down, and she hadn't seen Lip blink either. They both just sat in silence, staring at the wall across from them. Blinking wasn't important anymore; all that was important was that Liam was okay. They weren't going to do anything else until they got word that he was okay.

At one point throughout their vigil they had ended up holding hands, and for once Tessa didn't overthink it. It felt natural, and they both needed something to tether them down to earth, lest they slip away. Lip was holding her hand so tightly, she must have lost feeling at some point, but she didn't mind. She would be there for him through this in whatever way he needed, and she knew he was going to need her help to get through this.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Kev begin to talk, but she didn't really hear what he was saying. She only heard the hum of his voice for the first minute or so, but then she realized he was trying to talk about Fiona and that caused her to snap out of it.

Lip was staring down the hallway towards the door that led to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. He was just waiting for someone to come out with news about Liam. Better yet, he wished he would see Liam run out the door himself and have the doctor tell him everything was perfectly okay.

Tessa squeezed his hand when she realized he was tuning Kev out as much as she had just been.

"Yeah?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the door.

"Is there a lawyer you want us to use?" Kev asked.

Lip didn't answer and Tessa didn't blame him. The last thing Lip was thinking about right now was getting his sister out of jail. Besides, she didn't see why Fiona would get a private attorney when they would likely soon be buried in Liam's medical bills. At least the public defender was court appointed.

"I used a guy on Calumet a couple years ago for that DUI thing I had, you know? He smells like dirty dish towels, but if you breathe through your mouth, it's bearable," Kev explained.

His hand was ripped from her own and she looked up to see a doctor walking towards them. "Fiona Gallagher?" She asked.

"Philip Gallagher," he immediately said.

"Is Fiona here?" The doctor asked.

"No."

"Will she be back?"

"No, not soon," Lip answered. "I'm…I'm Liam's brother."

Tessa stood behind Lip, arms folded across her chest and pulled as close to her body as possible.

"Is there another parent or legal guardian available?"

"No," Lip said. "Is Liam gonna be okay?"

The doctor sighed. "I'm sorry. I really need a responsible adult present."

Before she could finish the sentence, Lip practically cut her off.

"Look, my mom's a bipolar drug addict who split years ago, and my dad's a drunk, and the cops just hauled Fiona off to jail, okay? Look, I'm the only thing that passes for a responsible adult that you're gonna find. Now, how is Liam?"

The doctor paused for a minute before she finally gave in. "Your brother came in with acute cocaine toxicity; disoriented, hallucinating, and with a dangerously elevated heart rate. He's on Naloxone for his altered mental status and benzodiazepine to control his seizures."

"Seizures?" Debbie asked.

Tessa could tell that the doctor was not happy that there were small children asking her questions, as she knew she shouldn't have been discussing this with Lip in the first place.

"We're monitoring his temperature, his heart rate, and his glucose levels, but he has started to settle down," she explained.

"Can we see him?" Tessa asked.

"I'm sorry," the doctor said. "Only immediate family members over eighteen are allowed in the PICU."

"Go," Tessa said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll stay here."

Lip nodded and followed the doctor behind the closed doors.

She turned and sat down, running a hand through her hair. Exhausted, she sighed and turned to Kev and V. "Why don't you guys take Debs and Carl home?"

"No!" Debbie protested. "We want to stay in case something happens to Liam."

Tessa nodded. "I know, but I promise I'll call as soon as I hear anything, okay? No matter what time it is."

"You promise?" Debbie asked.

"Of course," she said, offering Debbie a small smile.

"You sure you'll be okay?" V asked, standing and swinging her purse over her shoulder.

Tessa nodded. "Yeah, like I said. I promise to call you guys as soon as we hear anything."

Debbie and Carl hugged Tessa goodbye and she was surprised at Carl's hug, but didn't say anything. She figured he was just as scared as Debbie was.

It felt like forever until Lip walked out with a clipboard with papers attached. "Admissions papers," he said.

"How is he?" Tessa asked, standing and grabbing Lip's coat off the chair.

Lip walked down the hallway until he turned a corner and found a hallway that was carpeted. He walked down a little and then slid down the wall and sat on the floor. He began to fill out the paper work.

Tessa tried not to get frustrated, but was having a hard time. She was worried about Liam too, and it wasn't like she could get answers from doctors. She tossed his coat on the floor next to him and sighed. "I'll go get some coffee," she said, although she doubted Lip cared at this point.

When she returned she saw Kev standing in the hallway, trying to talk to Lip and she guessed he was getting about as many answers as she had gotten earlier.

"Jesus. Maybe they'll let us wash dishes in the cafeteria." She heard Lip say.

"No, fuck that," Kev responded. "They got to treat him. They're not gonna kick a sick toddler to the curb 'cause he doesn't have a gold card."

"That doesn't mean they're not gonna send a collection agency our way," Lip pointed out.

"What? You're worried they're gonna fuck up your credit rating?" Kev asked.

Tessa glanced at Lip and he didn't say anything, but turned and returned to the paperwork. Tessa slid down the wall and sat next to Lip. She placed his cup of coffee by his side and held her own in her hand, embracing the small amount of warmth it provided. She sat crisscross and stared at the floor while she listened to Kev talk about Fiona.

"Fiona's bail hearing is around noon sometime. I left a message with that lawyer," he explained.

"No."

Tessa quickly looked over at Lip, surprised by his answer.

"No, what?" Kev asked.

"Uh, lawyer work for free?" Lip pointed out.

"V and I can front you some cash," he said.

"What? Front us some cash? Like we're ever gonna be able to pay you back?"

Kev sighed. "She needs a lawyer."

"And she'll get one," Lip said. "The PD's office will handle it."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kev snapped. "An overworked public defender straight out of law school with a couple hundred cases?"

"Works for me," Lip said, not even bothering to look at Kev.

"It was an accident, Lip."

"If you say so."

Tessa sighed. "Kev, I know you mean well but any money is gonna have to go towards bills or Liam's medical bills, especially if Fiona's out of work. If she can get an attorney for free, then she needs to take it."

"I can't believe you two. It was an accident!" He threw his hands up in the air in disbelief. "This is some heavy shit, kid. Illegal drugs, a three year old? She might end up doing some serious time. She's family."

Lip ignored Kev and ran a hand over his face. He pulled his phone out and looked at the time. "It's almost five o'clock. I've got a quantum physics quiz in three hours. Guess I'm gonna miss it, huh?"

He stood up from the floor, bent down to grab his coat and stood back up. He left the coffee Tessa had brought him sitting there and he walked down the hallway, leaving both Tessa and Kev behind.

She ran a hand over her face, rubbing her forehead in frustration. If he accepted her help she would tell him to go to school and take his quiz and that she would watch Debbie and Carl while she did that. She would have let him use her car and done everything to help.

Tessa stood up and left the coffee she had bought for Lip on the floor. "Thanks for taking the kids home," she said to Kev. "I'll call V later."

She walked down the hall in the opposite direction of Lip to get to her car to go home.

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Tessa went home, showered and packed some things so she could stay at the house with Debbie and Carl in case Fiona didn't get out on bail. She was going to try to head back to the hospital for news but when she had arrived at the Gallagher house, V and Kev had still been there and Kev had just gotten news about Fiona's hearing.

Kev had already texted Lip about it and they all drove over to the courthouse, Kev and V taking the truck while Tessa drove the kids.

When they got there, Lip was already there but Tessa stuck close to Debbie who had been clinging to her since she had arrived at the house. It seemed as if Debbie had reverted back into the thirteen year old she actually was, instead of the teenager she was trying to be.

They all sat down on the bench and waited for Fiona's case to be heard. Tessa didn't really want to be there. She really just wanted to know how Liam was doing but she didn't know if asking Lip would do her any good.

"Fiona Gallagher. Case S6-974356."

"Is counsel present?" The Judge asked.

"Yes, Your Honor," Fiona's public defender answered.

"Read the charges."

"Possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony until 720 Illinois Criminal Statute 570.1, and child endangerment, a violation of the reckless conduct code 720 ILCS5 section 12C-5, a Class 3 Felony," the prosecutor read.

"How does the defendant plead?" The Judge asked.

Fiona didn't answer and Tessa looked at her friend. She was dressed in blue and she looked more pale than normal. In that moment she felt bad for Fiona, wishing she could just hug her. But then she remembered what had happened to Liam and she knew that this was something she could have prevented.

"Miss Gallagher?" The Judge asked, trying to get Fiona's attention.

"Not guilty, Your Honor."

"The defense requests the accused be released on her own recognizance," the public defender said.

"Cocaine overdose in a toddler?" The prosecutor asked. "The child is still in intensive care."

"Bail is set at $100,000. Check with the clerk to get a preliminary hearing date."

"What?" Veronica asked, thrown off by the large bail amount. No one had that amount of money lying around.

"Next," The Judge ordered.

"Jackson, S4-264296."

Everyone quickly put their coats on and V ran after Fiona's public defender to try to get some answers. It was just Tessa and Lip that weren't in quite the rush as everyone else.

Lip followed behind Tessa and she heard bits and pieces of the conversation V was trying to have with the PD.

"County only requires 10% for the bond," she explained. "They accept collateral of equal value. A house, a car. I can try to get it reduced at her preliminary hearing. If the victim recovers – "

"Liam," V quickly corrected her.

"Liam recovers, that could influence the Judge to lower her bail. Got to go." She quickly went up the stairs, more than likely to get to her next client.

Lip sat down on a stone bench while V talked with Kev about the money and Tessa sat down next to him, not really wanting to be apart of their conversation.

"So, where'd you go this morning?" He asked.

His voice made her jump slightly, as she had not been expecting for him to speak. "I went home to shower and grab some clothes so I could stay with Debbie and Carl." She shrugged. "Just make it easier."

"Thanks but, it's okay. I'll figure something out. It's not your fucked up family to worry about."

Tessa went to protest but was interrupted by Veronica.

"Ten grand?" V asked, turning to Lip.

"Forget it," Lip said with a shrug. "We don't have it."

"We can't just leave her in jail," Debbie insisted.

"We don't have the money, Debs."

"We can raise it. We can sell stuff - "

"No! Christ! Just drop it! Fuck, Debs!" Lip snapped.

Debbie flipped Lip off before rushing out of the courthouse.

"Debbie!" Lip yelled

"Debbie!" V yelled after her.

"Smooth, asshole. Smooth." Kev shook his head.

Lip stood up, ignoring Kev's comment. "Look, we got to find Frank, or they're gonna put Liam into foster care."

Tessa's eyes widened and she stood from her spot on the bench and got closer to the three boys.

"Shit," Kev swore.

"Yeah. Carl, I want you to go back to the hospital, all right? Stay with Liam, keep us updated on how he's doing. Look, I already tried the house. He wasn't there. You up for another round of 'Where the fuck's Frank'?" Lip asked.

"Yeah, sure," Kev agreed.

Carl spoke up. "Could be in Sheila's sweat lodge."

"Her what?" Lip asked.

"Or over at that chick's trailer by the Save-A-Lot."

V came back in and shook her head. "She hopped a bus before I could catch her," she explained.

"She's upset. She'll just go home," Lip said.

"Wonder why," V said with a glare.

"What? Me yelling at her? You think that's the most traumatic thing that's happened to her in the last eighteen hours? Let's just go see if we can find whatever gutter our responsible adult of a father has crawled into this time."

"I'll bring Carl to the hospital," Tessa offered.

"Okay thanks," Lip said, nodding his head.

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After dropping Carl off, Tessa went to the Gallagher house to see what she could do around there. She picked up Carl's room a little and tried to do Debbie's, but it wasn't that bad to begin with. Tessa resorted to doing laundry and cleaning up the kitchen.

At one point Frank came home with a blonde woman and a very chunky young boy. She had stayed quiet and they had gone upstairs, so she left them alone, unsure of whom they were.

Tessa was washing dishes when she heard the front door open. She saw Carl walk inside and she frowned. She pulled her hands out of the water and dried them. "What are you doing back?"

"Nurses sent me home," he said.

"I would have come to get you," Tessa pointed out.

He shrugged and grabbed something from the large child sitting on the couch before he disappeared upstairs.

Sighing, Tessa returned to doing the dishes. Once those were done she went to switch the laundry out and grab more dirty laundry upstairs.

"Carl, anything you want washed for school this week? Any blood that needs to be taken off articles of clothing?" She asked with a raised brow, as she rested the laundry basket against her hip.

He chuckled but shook his head.

"Carl!" The sound of Lip's voice interrupted their conversation. "Yo, Carl!" She nodded her head towards the stairs. "Go ahead, I'll be down in a minute."

He ran downstairs and she walked into Lip's room to grab his laundry but stopped when she saw a passed out Frank on his bed. "Christ," she mumbled.

Not caring about waking him up, she still went inside and gathered Lip's clothes and put them in the basket. Once she had gathered the rest of the clothes she went downstairs and found Lip and Carl talking in the kitchen.

"Who's on the sofa watching porn?" Lip asked his brother.

"Nephew," Carl answered.

Tessa furrowed her eyebrows. "You have a nephew?" She asked, bringing the basket over to the washer.

"A what?" Lip asked.

"Nurses said Liam was 'resting comfortably'," Carl explained.

"Wha – no, the – the nephew," Lip asked.

"Oh, Frank says he is, but he could just be lying to get a liver," Carl said.

Tessa snorted and nodded her head, knowing it was something Frank would do. She continued to put the clothes into the washer.

"We also got a new sister upstairs. She's in the shower," he finished.

"Jesus," Lip swore. "Hey, buddy, why didn't you call me before you left the hospital?" Lip asked.

"That's what I said," Tessa mumbled as she closed the washer door and began pressing the correct buttons.

"No phone. Fiona confiscated it when I got busted for stealing Slim Jims from the Koreans," he explained.

"Okay," Lip said.

"You got the money?" Carl asked.

Tessa walked over to the basket full of clean clothes she had set aside and she put it on the kitchen table to begin folding.

"For what?" Lip asked, walking over to the fridge to grab a beer.

"Get Fiona out of jail," he explained.

"Oh. Uhm, no."

Carl sighed. "So we're just gonna leave her there?"

"No choice."

Tessa watched Lip pass Carl the beer in exchange for the rest of his burger, and she rolled her eyes at the simple action.

"Why is the world so fucked up?" Carl asked.

"I don't know."

"Everybody's family this fucked up?"

Lip shrugged. "Well, not everybody's, but a lot of them, yeah. Of course, we're that extra-special Gallagher kind of fucked up."

"Your family fucked up?" Carl asked, turning around to look at Tessa folding clothes.

She raised her eyebrows. "Uhm," she began, pursing her lips together as she thought about how she would explain it. "No idea who my dad is and I haven't seen my mom since I was fifteen or sixteen. Junkie. Other than that, no family. So yeah, I guess so."

"So, I'm gonna go back to the hospital," Lip said. "Uh, school tomorrow, okay? That means Debbie too."

"She's not here," Tessa said.

Lip gave her a confused look. "Wait. Debbie didn't come home?" He asked.

"Nope," Carl answered.

Lip pulled out his phone. "Hey, don't let Frank out of your sight, all right? We need him to get Liam out of the hospital." He dialed Debbie's number and waited. "Fuck. Why isn't she picking up? Damn it, where the hell is she?"

"I'll try from my phone in a bit. Could just be ignoring you," Tessa said, putting a folded t-shirt back in the basket. She stopped folding and turned to look at Lip. "You can take my car to the hospital." She walked out of the kitchen and towards her bag, which was sitting near the TV. She gave the kid on the couch a weird look as he watched porn. Once she found her keys she walked back into the kitchen and held them out to Lip.

"It's okay I can take the L," he said.

Tessa frowned and grabbed his hand with her other one and put the keys in his hand. "Just shut up and take it," she said.

"Tessa, you should go home." She frowned at his words. What the hell was his problem?

"I would have thought you'd want to get to Liam faster to spend more time with him. You never know what kind of shit you'll run into on the L."

"God, Tessa, just stop, okay?!" He snapped. "I am not taking your car. Just go home and let us deal with our own family shit." He shoved the car keys back towards her.

"Fucking Gallaghers, I swear to God…" Tessa started.

"Yes, Gallaghers. My family, my problem. Not yours. We aren't together anymore. This is my own bullshit to deal with. Just go _home_ and stop trying to help!" He yelled.

"You think I'm doing this for your stubborn ass? I love these kids even though we aren't together. For fucks sake, Lip. Just for once in your life accept the help being offered to you. You won't be able to do this all on your own and manage to stay in school. And I'll be damned if I let you drop out. Push me away all you want, Lip, but I am not going anywhere." She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him.

Lip faltered for a moment, almost as if he was confused that someone would want to help his family. It didn't matter that Tessa had known his family well over a year now and that she had always been there. He still found it to be strange.

"Fine," he snapped. "You know what? I will take your fucking car. But only because I want to get back there quickly. This changes nothing, Tessa. I still don't need your help." He snatched the keys back from her hand and stormed out the back door.

Tessa figured this small victory was about as much as she could ask for at the moment, but she knew this was a step in the right direction. It probably went against every fiber of his being to accept this small gesture of help, and Tessa knew that. Fucking Gallaghers.

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"Still no Liam?"

Debbie's voice pulled Tessa from her thoughts. She looked up to see Debbie with wide eyes, standing in the hallway with a very tall boy standing behind her. Scratch that. He was definitely not a boy. Quirking an eyebrow, Tessa wondered if this was the Matt she had been telling her about. If that was the case, they certainly had a lot to discuss.

"Not yet, honey," V answered.

"Where were you last night?" Lip asked.

"Matt's," Debbie answered.

"Who's Matt?" V asked, her motherly instincts kicking in.

Matt raised his hand in a timid fashion.

"Oh, you're Matt? 'The' Matt? How fucking old are you?" Lip asked, standing up from his seat and pointing at the tall guy standing behind Debbie.

"Uh Debbie, hate to break it to you but he is _not_ fifteen. Did he tell you he was fifteen?" Tessa asked.

"Who's this?" Debbie asked, ignoring her brother and Tessa.

"Our new big sister and nephew," Carl answered.

"Debbie, hi," Sammy gushed, rushing forward and embracing Debbie in a hug.

Tessa scrunched up her nose in disgust at the gesture. She did not care for Sammy and her living room porn-watching child.

Debbie wasn't quite sure what to say, so a mere, "Oh," escaped her lips.

"Mr. Gallagher?"

Everyone turned to see the doctor wheeling Liam out in a small wheelchair while another woman walked next to her. She was dressed in a suit and if Tessa had to guess, she would have bet it was the social worker.

"Liam!" V gushed

"Hey, hey, hey!" Kev cheered

"Look at you!"

"Hey, buddy!" Lip greeted

"Hi, Liam!" Tessa said with a smile. She stood behind Carl but waved to the toddler, not wanting to overwhelm him entirely. There were so many people crowding around him already.

"Oh, my gosh, I missed you so much. Oh, my gosh," she heard Debbie say.

Everyone gushed over Liam and gave him smiles. They all said how much they missed him and asked him how he was feeling, even if he didn't really respond. They were just all happy to see that he was going to be okay.

 _A:N/ ENORMOUS thanks to Kayla for helping me with the end of this chapter. She's the peanut butter to my jelly, you guys. What did you guys think? Fiona got out at the end of this episode, so we'll be seeing her back home next time. As usual, review!_


	4. FOUR

_A:N/ Here's the next installment. Please let me know what you all think! The reviews were starting off so well you guys! 20, 13, but then there were only 8 for the last chapter. If it surpasses 10 reviews you get the chapter early. Otherwise, Wednesday of every week (unless otherwise noted). But I know this one came two weeks after the last chapter, which I apologize for. I had a ton of stuff going on with my niece._

Tessa walked into the Gallagher house without knocking. She walked into the kitchen where everyone was getting ready for the day.

Lip looked up and gave her a weird look. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I'm here to bring Debbie and Carl to school." She placed a bag on the table in front of Debbie.

"Yum! Thanks Tessa." Debbie pulled out her egg and cheese sandwich Tessa had picked up for her and she tossed one that had extra bacon on it to Carl.

"Sweet," Carl said, ripping into his sandwich.

"Here, Lip." Debbie placed a sandwich in front of Lip.

Lip opened his mouth to say something but Tessa cut him off. "Eat it or throw it away. I really don't care. I'm not arguing with you."

She pursed her lips and looked over at Debbie. "You guys can eat that in the car," she said.

"What's that smell?" Debbie asked, scrunching up her nose.

"Oh, guess. Frank! Stop smoking weed!" He huffed in annoyance.

Debbie rushed over to Liam. "Carl, get Liam away from the stairs."

Her younger brother listened and pushed Liam in his highchair towards Lip, who was packing school lunches for his siblings.

"Look, I'll take Liam to school today. I'll grab us some dinner while I'm there," Lip said.

Tessa internally rolled her eyes. She didn't see how Lip was going to be able to attend classes and watch Liam at the same time. Not to mention he had his work-study. She would have offered to take Liam but she knew he would only shoot her down.

"What about co-co van? Sheila made it once," Carl suggested.

"Yeah, well, I hope you remember what it tasted like. It's probably the last time you're gonna have it in your life." Lip continued to try to get things together.

Tessa stood off to the side with her arms folded across her chest as she leaned against a wall. She couldn't help but to wonder if Lip would ever really accept her help.

"We could order pizza," Carl tried. "Fiona used to let us do that when she's working late."

"No, it's too expensive," Lip quickly answered.

"Tessa, will you get us pizza for dinner?" Carl asked, hoping she would cave.

"No, Carl! We aren't getting pizza for dinner. All right? We're back to generics from food four less and dumpster diving," he snapped before Tessa could give Carl an answer.

Tessa looked over to see their new sibling and her child walk into the kitchen. "I could buy a few groceries," she offered.

Debbie glared at Sammi. "Yeah, that'd be nice since we have two extra mouths to feed," Debbie snapped.

Lip pulled Liam closer to him and away from the new Gallagher. "Yeah, well, why don't you just tell Frank to lay off the weed?"

Sammi frowned. "He's very sick," she insisted. "Worse than ever."

"Yeah, well, we're very out on our asses if the social worker makes a surprise visit and the place smells like Snoop Dogg," Lip pointed out.

"Yeah," Debbie added. "The only reason we're letting you stay here is to take care of Frank."

"I don't think you guys understand," Sammi tried.

"Oh? Understand?" Debbie asked.

Tessa had to bite her lip to keep from smirking. Sammi was not going to win this battle, especially against Lip.

"We've lived with that narcissistic asshole our whole lives."

"Now you're trying to play big sis?" Debbie asked.

"You're lucky we don't bounce you to the curb," Lip snapped.

"Yeah," Carl piped up.

"So if we say no more weed," Lip started.

"We mean no more weed," Debbie finished.

Tessa saw Sammi purse her lips in frustration. "Okay," she said nodding her head. "Fine."

"Good. Now listen, everybody, remember that when the social worker does show up – "

"And this includes you too, Chuckie, so listen up," Debbie cut him off.

Lip made a pointed look at his nephew. "You text me immediately. Okay? I'll hop on the L."

"What about Fiona?" Carl asked.

"I've got her covered, all right? I just need you to stall the social worker till I can get back."

"Are we understood?" Debbie asked, glaring at her new sister and nephew.

"Yeah," Carl agreed.

Lip looked around at everyone, except Tessa, to make sure they all understood what he had been saying.

"Yes," Sammi agreed, nodding her head.

"Oh, that's my ride!" Debbie perked up.

Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and stood up from leaning against the wall. "What happened to needing me to bring you?" Tessa asked.

"Oh uh, sorry. I have to stop by Sheila's to water her plants…while she's out of town." Debbie was trying to rush away and she knew that she was lying. No doubt it was Matt outside.

"Deb," Lip tried to get his sister's attention.

"Oh! And I won't be home for dinner."

"Why? Where are you going?" Lip asked.

"Friends!" She yelled over her shoulder before disappearing out the door.

"Come on Carl," Tessa said, ruffling his hair as he grabbed his winter coat and followed his sister outside. "I'll meet you by the car. I'll be out in a minute."

She waited for Lip to finish talking to Sammi before she spoke up. "What can I do to help today? And before you start your bullshit, I told you last night that I am not going anywhere. So you can just tell me what you need done, or I can come up with my own ideas. But I will definitely buy Carl his pizza if that's the way you want to approach this," she said to Lip, hoping a little humor might help the situation.

It didn't.

"God, you are relentless, aren't you? I told you, we don't need help," he responded.

"And I told you that just because you are stubborn as fuck doesn't mean you have things handled. What is Liam going to do during your classes? During your work study? Who is going to make sure that Debs does her homework after school? Check that Carl doesn't burn the house to the ground. Frank is even more useless than usual, and I don't expect your newest family additions are going to be much help after how this morning went. I have the day off from work, and I am here to help, Lip. Just accept that." Tessa was starting to feel like a broken record with these tirades.

"Fine," he snapped. "You know what, Tessa? Be here when they get home from school. Keep an eye out for the social worker. I can't stop you," Lip said, grabbing Liam as he headed towards the door to leave for school. He paused for a moment before leaving, seemingly running things over in his mind.

"But don't buy Carl a fucking pizza," he said before leaving the house.

Tessa smiled to herself in triumph. She knew that in his own way, Lip just thanked her for being willing to help. She knew that this was a sign that things might start working out without her having to beg to help.

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After dropping Carl off at school, Tessa went home and did some cleaning around her apartment before she headed back to the Gallagher house. She tried her best to clean up the house while Lip was out and Fiona was at her hearing.

She knew that if she tried cleaning while Lip was there, he wouldn't let her get anything done.

Tessa was just finishing up the kitchen when she heard someone walk through the door. She poked her head out to see who it was, and smiled softly when she saw it was Fiona.

She couldn't say she wasn't disappointed in Fiona; she was. She had agreed with Lip one hundred percent and was having a hard time accepting the excuse that it was an accident. Tessa just couldn't accept that, especially after Liam almost dying.

"What are you doing here?" Fiona asked.

"Oh uh. I'm trying to clean up for when the social worker comes by. No idea when it will be but, I figured it would be best to try to keep the house in order," she said. "I didn't know what was going to happen at your hearing today, so I wasn't sure if you would be home."

The Judge could have revoked Fiona's bail, but it appeared that hadn't happened.

"The Prosecutor wants five years minimum," Fiona whispered.

Tessa walked forward and hugged Fiona. She felt like she hadn't seen her friend in forever. She had no idea what Fiona had been doing with coke in the first place, and she knew she had to ask what had happened.

"I can't go to jail," Fiona sobbed into Tessa's shoulder.

Tessa rubbed Fiona's back in a soothing manner and just allowed Fiona to cry. When Fiona finally pulled away and wiped at her eyes. "My lawyer said I might be able to get three years probation. But I could also be looking at two to three months of jail time."

"That's a lot better than five years, Fi." Tessa shrugged her shoulders, not really sure what else she could say.

"I know," she said. "But it was an accident," Fiona insisted.

Tessa didn't agree or say anything. She didn't know what she could say.

"How about you try to focus on making sure everything is perfect for when the social worker shows up. You know, get your mind off of things?" Tessa suggested.

Fiona nodded. "I'm gonna take a shower first," she said.

Nodding her head, Tessa watched Fiona disappear upstairs. Sighing, she turned back to her previous task and continued to finish it.

She spent the next few hours cleaning the house and after her shower, Fiona had come down to help her. But Tessa had gotten a lot accomplished since she had shown up after spending a little time at home.

She just didn't want Lip to have to worry about the house.

Carl came home from school and she sensed that he wasn't in a great mood. "What's up?" Tessa asked, sitting down on the couch next to him.

"Is Liam retarded now?" Carl asked.

Tessa scoffed and shook her head. "No. Why would you ask that?"

He shrugged. "That's what some kids were saying today at school."

Tessa reached over and brushed her fingers across Carl's forehead. "So I'm guessing this is where this bruise is from?" She asked.

Carl started to smile. "I broke some kid's nose."

Tessa laughed even though she shouldn't have. "Well I'll deny this if you tell anyone, but good job." She grinned and Carl returned the gesture.

"Do some homework and I'll make you something to eat," she said. "Have you heard from Debbie?"

The redhead hadn't shown up after school and while Tessa wasn't terribly worried, she knew Lip would be concerned when he came home.

"Not coming home for dinner, remember?" Carl asked. He pulled a worksheet out of his backpack and began to work on his homework, much to Tessa's delight.

"Right." She pulled out her phone and texted Debbie, asking how her day had went and telling her that if she needed her to pick her up later, to just text or call her. Tucking her phone back into her back pocket she walked into the kitchen and began making a PB&J for Carl.

A few hours later, Tessa heard the front door open and she heard Lip's voice. She walked out of the kitchen and saw that Carl was asking Lip the same question about Liam being retarded.

Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms across her chest and leaned against the door frame that led into the living room.

"Kids at school said he's retarded," Carl said.

Lip furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh, fuck them. He's not retarded." Lip handed Liam to Carl. "Go clean up," he said. Carl didn't move and Lip sighed. "Clean up."

Carl took Liam upstairs and Lip grabbed the black trash bag and walked past Tessa and into the kitchen.

"I already fed Carl dinner. But I'm sure he'll eat again," Tessa said with a small chuckle.

Lip looked over at Tessa. "What did you feed him?" He asked, knowing there wasn't much of anything for food in the house.

"I took him to the diner. I had to pick up some tips anyway."

He nodded. "I might have killed you if you had taken him for pizza," he said.

Tessa chuckled and was glad to see that Lip had a small smile on his face as well.

"Not gonna lie…I considered it." She nodded her head as she attempted to hide the smirk on her face.

There was an empty silence between the two, until Tessa decided to speak up. "If you want to go clean up I'll put all this food away."

He nodded and pursed his lips. "Uh, yeah. Thanks. Just leave the burgers and buns out."

He disappeared up the stairs and Tessa began to dig through the garbage bag. She put things away in the fridge and cabinets, but left the burgers and buns out like Lip had asked.

A few minutes later, Lip came downstairs. She took the large garbage bag and folded it up (as neatly as a garbage bag could be folded). "Do you want to keep this for anything?" Tessa asked.

"Did anything spill inside it?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No it's clean. I got any crumbs out."

He shrugged. "I guess so. Just leave it over there." He gestured towards the area that held their laundry baskets.

Tessa put the bag in the corner and she turned to look at him. "Well, I guess I'll get going. You've got Fiona back so she can help with the other kids." Tessa didn't really want to leave but she didn't want to over-stay her welcome. Besides, there was really no valid reason as to why she should still be there. She knew Lip wouldn't let Fiona take care of Liam, but she could at least do things to help Carl and Debbie.

Lip didn't say anything for a moment. He wanted her to stay, but he didn't know how to make that happen without him verbally asking for help. "Okay," he said once he had pulled himself out of his thoughts.

"I know you won't, but let me know if you need anything." She offered him a small smile before she put her coat on to leave the house.

He nodded but she didn't see it since her back was turned.

Tessa left the house and went home. She wanted to take a hot shower and crawl into bed. She had no idea what was in store for the Gallagher family, but she knew she would do whatever it was she could do in order to help.

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Several hours later, Tessa had taken a hot shower, dried her hair, and gotten into a super comfy hoodie that almost hit her knees. She walked into the kitchen to grab herself a glass of water before she planned on crawling into bed.

She managed to take one sip of her water before she heard someone knocking at her door. Furrowing her eyebrows, she glanced at the clock to see how late it was. She had no idea who it could be. Maybe it was Ian, finally coming home. Or Debbie. She would have even guessed Sam but she hadn't spoken to her friend in a few days because of everything that had been going on.

Tessa walked over to the door and looked through the peephole to see whom it was. She frowned when she saw it was Lip holding Liam. She had not expected to see him on the other side of her door.

Before opening the door she tugged her hoodie down further, trying to cover up where the piece of clothing would allow it. She had underwear on underneath, but she still felt a little weird considering it was Lip and how they had been towards one another the past few days.

"I uh…got into a fight with Fiona and I can't stay there until I cool down. Do you mind if we crash here tonight?" He asked. "We'll be out in the morning since I have classes."

Unable to say anything, Tessa merely nodded and stood back so that Lip could enter her apartment.

Lip dropped his backpack and a small bag on the floor near her couch. He put Liam on the ground and began to take off his coat and hat, then proceeded to take off his own coat and gloves.

"I'll grab some blankets," she mumbled before she turned and went down the hallway to grab some blankets. She opened her closet and pulled out some blankets and a spare pillow she had.

She walked back into the living room and let the blankets fall on the ground. She began to take the cushions off the couch so she could unfold the bed hidden beneath.

"Can you move the table?" She asked, motioning towards the coffee table that was only a foot or two away from the couch.

"Yeah," he said before walking around the couch and pushing the table as close to the TV as he could. It was enough room for the bed to unfold, but left no room to walk in front of it.

She began to unfold the bed and Lip walked to the other side and helped her finish the task. There was already a clean fitted sheet on the bed, which Tessa tried to keep there in case something like this were to happen.

Lip reached down and grabbed the blankets and pillow, tossing them on the bed but not moving to spread the blankets out.

"Help yourself to whatever. You know where everything is," she said. She really wanted to ask about the fight he had with Fiona, but knew it was too late to get into something like that. Besides, he had left the house to escape Fiona and the fight, not show up at Tessa's just to relive it.

"Night," she said before she turned to go down the hallway to her room.

"Uh, thanks," Lip added, sounding unsure about his words. "For, you know."

Tessa turned and offered him a small smile, nodding her head. "Don't worry about it."

She walked into her room, closed the door, and got into her bed. She ran a hand through her hair and stared at the ceiling. Her mind was far too crazy to settle down so she could sleep. She could feel the exhaustion creeping into her body, making her eyelids heavy. Caving into her needs, she closed her eyes and tried to let sleep overcome her.

 _A:N/ Don't forget to leave amazing reviews! Remember – I love knowing what you guys think or want to see happen. But please note, I DO have something planned for Lip finding out about the abortion. Unfortunately, it will not happen in season four._


	5. FIVE

_A:N/ I was very happy with all the reviews from everyone. They made me smile! And here's the chapter earlier, as promised, when I receive lots of reviews. Enjoy!_

Lip and Liam had been gone before Tessa had even woken up. Usually a light sleeper, she hadn't even heard them moving around while getting ready for the day. It was a little after eight in the morning and Tessa sighed. She had taken some time off from work so she could help the Gallaghers, but hadn't told Lip in fear of his reaction. She had so much paid-time off accrued; she figured now was a good time to use it.

Tessa didn't really want to go sit around with Fiona today, so she focused on cleaning her own house. Fiona had texted her telling her that her probation officer was going to show up today, and that she was hoping Tessa would come by later so they could hang out.

It took her about an hour to respond to Fiona's text message. She finally agreed to come by around dinner so she could help once all the kids came home from school.

It was around five o'clock when Tessa walked through the front door of the Gallagher household. Fiona was in the kitchen working on a calendar. Unwinding her scarf from her neck, Tessa sat down on the stool near the kitchen counter.

"What's that?" Tessa asked.

"Trying to plan our meals out. I can't leave to get a job until a report is filed, and my PO said that could take two weeks."

She saw how exhausted Fiona looked. She didn't blame her. She would have been up all night thinking about how she was going to take care of her family too. But Tessa wasn't going to just let them go without food.

"You don't have any money left from your job?"

Fiona shook her head. "I caught up on old bills," she confessed.

Tessa nodded. "Well you know I can grab food from the diner. I have a few days off but I can swing by or Sam can grab something. The food gets thrown out anyway."

Fiona smiled at her friend and nodded. "Thanks," she said.

"So…" Tessa said slowly after a moment of silence. "Did I miss anything today?"

Sighing, she shrugged. "We kicked Sammi out last night. Lip and I got into a huge fight. Debbie got her period this morning." Fiona listed off a few more things. Tessa knew about the fight but hadn't been informed on what it was about. However, given the current situation she could only guess it was about Fiona and the possible jail time she was looking at.

Smirking, Tessa looked at Fiona. "I'm sure she loved waking up to that."

Fiona scoffed. "Yeah. She wanted nothing to do with me when I tried to help her."

Tessa shrugged. "It's an awkward thing in general. I'll say something to her to let her know she can come to me too. It might be different coming from someone who isn't her sister."

"Thanks," Fiona said.

The sound of the door opening caught both of their attention. Lip walked in with Liam in one arm, and a garbage bag full of food in the other.

"Hey. My first class tomorrow is at 11:30, so we're gonna stay here tonight, and then Friday it's 8:30 AM so we're gonna stay at the dorms tomorrow night."

"Got it. Got it." Fiona nodded, reaching for Liam. She had really missed her little brother.

"Hi! Hi, hi!" Fiona gushed as Lip put Liam in his highchair.

"Hi, my big boy! Did you miss me today? Yeah. Oh, you did?"

Tessa watched the two for a moment and watched as Liam paid little attention to his sister, and more to the toy in his hand.

"Oh, you brought dinner. That's great." Fiona walked over to the fridge and wrote on her calendar. "That means we can move tonight's mac and cheese to tomorrow, which gives us an extra day of food before we panic."

"Panic?" Lip asked.

"Yeah. I got to pay the heat and electric before I buy groceries. It's pretty bleak. I got a check coming from the cups, but that's gonna cover rent, and food-wise, we're low on everything but macaroni and mayonnaise."

Tessa scrunched her nose up in disgust at the idea of mixing the two together.

She opened her mouth to remind Fiona about the food she could get from the diner, but Lip cut her off before she could say anything.

"You saved nothing from your job?"

Fiona shrugged. "I was trying to catch up on old bills." She looked over at Liam in an attempt to change the subject. "How'd he do today?"

"Yeah, he's fine."

Debbie and Carl walked into the house. "Carl got suspended," Debbie announced.

"What?" Fiona asked, her eyebrows rose in concern.

"Shut up, ass-brain," Carl spat.

"Hi, Lip," Debbie greeted her older brother, walking over to give him a hug.

"Hey, kiddo. How are ya?" He asked, hugging his sister back.

"Hey, bud." Lip ruffled Carl's hair.

"Hey," Carl greeted in return.

Debbie walked around the counter and quickly gave Tessa a hug before she began to take her winter clothes off.

"I need someone to go to school with me Friday morning or I'll be expelled," Carl explained.

"Well, I can't leave the house yet. They need to reschedule. Did you tell them I'm stuck at home?" Fiona rambled.

"No," Carl deadpanned.

"Well, go in tomorrow and tell them I'm sick. I have singles or mono," Fiona insisted.

"I'll take you bruiser," Lip offered as he slid two pans of food into the oven. "What time?"

"8:00 AM," Carl said.

"Oh, fuck. I got class. Can you make it a little later, like, around noon?"

"No, parents will be there and stuff."

Tessa tried to think about how that could work, but wasn't seeing any solution. Frank was far too sick to go anywhere. She just hoped Lip didn't have to miss class, seeing as he had already missed a few when Liam had been in the hospital.

"Hi, new family."

Everyone looked up to see Sammi standing in the kitchen doorway. "Door was open. I won't stay long, just wanted to let you know, dads at Sheila's house. We're living there a bit. It's a really great place. Plenty of room, lots of light."

"Thanks for the update," Liam said with a roll of his eyes.

"Any of you guys have any extra cash? Dad wants money for his surgery."

Tessa scoffed and rolled her eyes. She locked eyes with Lip who gave her the same expression. She couldn't believe Sammi was marching in here asking for money.

"Why not get a job?" Fiona asked, her arms crossed in front of her.

"Right now, my full-time career is taking care of our pops before he goes," Sammi said.

"Well, we're broke. Wish we could help you," Fiona said sarcastically.

"Okay. Doesn't hurt to ask. If anyone wants to stop by, give his morale a boost, hope can heal," Sammi said.

Lip scoffed. "Oh, yeah? Can hope make up for the years of misery that he put us through?"

Sammi shrugged. "Maybe. Come by. Find out." She turned to leave but stopped midway. "He doesn't deserve to go out like this. No one does."

Sammi left without anyone saying anything. Tessa would have to disagree. There were definitely people in the world that deserved to die a slow and painful death. She held no empathy for the Gallagher father.

"Why not ask Frank to go to school with you, Carl?" Debbie suggested.

The backdoor opened and someone Tessa had never met walked through. "Ian here?" He asked.

By process of elimination, Tessa knew this had to be Mickey.

"He's upstairs," Fiona said with a nod in that direction.

Tessa turned and gave Fiona a confusion look.

"Ian's here?" Everyone asked at the same time.

Carl and Debbie were the first to run upstairs to greet their brother. Tessa slowly got off her chair and walked upstairs, hoping everything was okay.

She walked into the room to see Carl and Debbie surrounding Ian and embracing him in tight hugs.

Someone walked in behind her, and she saw Lip giving Ian a grin. "Hey man!"

The two brothers hugged.

"Tessa!" Ian grinned when he saw his friend standing by the doorway.

Returning his grin, she walked forward and engulfed Ian in a hug. When she pulled away, his eyes darted between her and his brother. "Are you two back together yet?" He asked.

"No," Tessa said quickly.

"Uh, yeah. Nope," Lip said awkwardly at the same time.

Ian frowned for a moment.

"Lip says you stole a helicopter," Carl said, ruining Ian's small moment.

His frown immediately disappeared and was replaced by a grin.

"I tried to," he said. "Kind of tipped it. Blades snapped. Motor caught fire."

"Awesome," Carl gushed. "You shoot anyone?"

"I never left basic," Ian explained.

"You can't shoot anyone there?" Carl asked, disappointment clear on his face.

"You can. I didn't."

Carl was unimpressed. "You shot no one. You flew nothing. Why'd you even go there in the first place?" Carl asked.

"Relationship issues," he said, nodding his head.

He didn't look over at Mickey, but Tessa and Lip did.

"Yeah, you okay?" Lip asked, looking back at his brother.

"Yep. All good," he replied.

"Cool." Lip wrapped his arms around Debbie and Carl. "Cool. Well, let's go get some dinner dorks." He ushered them out of the room but turned back quickly. "Hey, I'll catch up with you later, yeah?"

"Yeah, later, man."

"All right." Lip disappeared out of the room and Tessa stood there for a moment.

She knew Mickey wanted to talk to Ian but she really didn't care. She had really missed the redhead.

"I'm glad you're back," Tessa said with a small smile.

"We have catching up to do too," Ian said with a wink.

She rolled her eyes and turned to leave the room. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," she mumbled under her breath.

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The next morning, Tessa woke up to the sound of pounding on her door. Groaning, she pulled herself out of bed and went to see who it was. Confusion crossed her features when she saw it was Debbie.

She opened the door and gave Debbie a concerned look. "Debbie? Is everything okay?"

"No! Fiona trashed my room. She shoved all of my clothes under my bed and she completely ruined my countdown to losing my virginity poster – "

Tessa laughed and Debbie glared at her. Tessa covered her mouth with her hand for a moment before nodding at Debbie. "I'm sorry. Continue."

"And on top of that I got my period and Fiona only has tampons."

Debbie plopped down on the couch and crossed her arms.

"You done?" Tessa asked, walking around the couch so she could sit next to Debbie.

Debbie gave a curt nod.

"So first of all, why did you have a countdown poster for losing your virginity?" Tessa asked, trying her best not to giggle at the absurd idea.

"Because she's a bitch!"

"Hey!" Tessa snapped back.

Rolling her eyes, Debbie huffed. "Because her stupid PO officer was coming by and everything needed to be spotless. I'm not the one who left the coke out so why do I need to be punished?"

"I'm sure she was just trying to make sure everything was okay for her PO. But I agree that she shouldn't have trashed your…art project." Tessa had found it too funny that Debbie had even made the poster in the first place.

"And I have some pads for you. Not a ton since they suck, but it's something I do have. Now, why don't you want to use a tampon? Did you try and it just didn't work?" Tessa asked.

Debbie shook her head. "No. I'm saving my virginity."

Tessa tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling, a few chuckles escaping her lips.

"You can't lose your virginity to a tampon, Debs."

Debbie raised her eyebrow. "You can't?"

She shook her head. "No. So on that note, why don't you try a tampon." She nodded in the direction of her bathroom.

"Okay," she said slowly. "And do you have a long sweater I can borrow?"

Tessa nodded. "You go try the tampon and I'll look through my clothes."

Debbie and Tessa got up and they both walked down the hallway. Debbie turned right to go into the bathroom and Tessa veered left to enter her room.

She began to look through her closet, unsure if she even had any long sweaters. She didn't have any hanging up so she walked over to her dresser and began going through the drawers.

Some of her drawers still had Lip's clothes in them and she began to take them all out. He could have them back. It wasn't like he was here all the time anyway.

Finally she found a sweater and held it in her hand. She walked towards the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Everything okay?" She asked.

The door opened and Debbie looked defeated. "It didn't work. I got it in a little but then it started to hurt. So I found your pads and just put one of those on. Can I have some for my backpack?"

Tessa nodded. "Of course. Try Googling and you may find a few tricks for the tampon thing. Try to give it another go whenever you get your period, yeah?" She asked.

Reluctantly, Debbie nodded. She walked back into the bathroom and started to grab some pads for her backpack.

"And here," Tessa said, tossing the sweater at Debbie. It landed on the floor next to her but she picked it up and put it on. "You can keep it. I can't even remember the last time I wore it."

Debbie smiled. "Thanks."

Tessa walked down the hallway and stood near the door, playing with her keys on the table. "Shouldn't you be at school?" Tessa yelled so Debbie could hear her from down the hallway.

Debbie walked down the hallway and shrugged. "Yeah but I really needed to talk to someone other than Fiona," she explained. "Hey uhm…do you mind if I spend the night?"

She smiled and nodded her head. "Of course. Just make sure you let Fiona know, okay?"

"Fine," she said with a huff of annoyance.

She bit the inside of her cheek but finally made up her mind. She reached onto the table and grabbed her spare key. She handed it out to Debbie. "Here's my spare."

Debbie reached for it but Tessa pulled it back quickly. "I swear if you give this to Lip I'll kill you," she threatened.

Rolling her eyes, Debbie snatched the key from Tessa.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tessa sat on the couch with Debbie. The redhead was trying to finish her homework and Tessa was trying to find a movie for the two of them to watch. She had picked up a frozen pizza and it was currently cooking in the oven.

"Oh! What about Bridesmaids?" Tessa asked.

Debbie looked up from her homework and shrugged. "I've never seen it."

Tessa grinned. "Oh we're definitely watching it."

She got up to check on the pizza but a knock on her door caught her attention. Her and Debbie exchanged odd looks. "Maybe it's Sam," she said more to herself than her guest.

Opening the door she saw Lip holding Liam and a bag and Carl on his side.

"Uh sorry to do this but…do you think we could crash here?"

She nodded her head and stepped aside for everyone to walk in.

"Hey Debs," Lip greeted.

Debbie frowned. "Why are you guys here? I was supposed to have a girls night with Tessa."

"Fiona almost burned the house down while she was drunk, so Lip made us leave," Carl explained.

Her eyes went wide and she looked at Lip. "Shit," she muttered. "Are you all okay?" Tessa asked.

Lip didn't say anything but he put Liam on the ground so he could take his winter jacket off.

"Fiona burned dinner. Got anything to eat?" Carl asked.

Tessa tore her eyes from Lip and looked at Carl. "Pizza should be ready in a minute. But if you're still hungry after that, then there's Peanut butter Captain Crunch in the closet."

She walked into the kitchen to check on the pizza. Deciding it was done, she pulled it out of the oven and placed it on the stove to cool. Tessa went back into the living room and placed her hands on her hips. "So Debbie will sleep with me, and you guys can have the pullout bed. Not sure if you can fit all three of you into the double sized bed, but if not then someone can sleep on the floor."

"Debs, can you cut the pizza? I'll be right back." Tessa walked down the hallway to look for the extra blankets the boys would need for their bed.

A moment later, Lip appeared in her room and he sat down on her bed. "Thanks," he muttered. "I don't mean to keep showing up here, but it's easier than trying to fit everyone in the dorm and you know…you said you would help if you could."

Tessa walked around and sat down on the bed next to him. "It's completely fine Lip. You guys can come here whenever you want."

There was a short silence between the two before Tessa decided to speak up. "I think it's the right thing, what you did. Taking the boys out of the house. I love Fiona but she's completely off the rails this time."

Lip nodded, secretly glad to have someone on his side. No doubt Kev and Veronica would always support Fiona, no matter what she did. "I wasn't going to chance her having the house burn down while everyone was sleeping."

Tessa pursed her lips, deciding whether or not she wanted to offer Lip more help. "I can watch Liam tomorrow, if you want. I don't work and I'll just stay here with him. You don't even have to let Fiona know he's here."

His automatic response was 'no', but before he could get the word out, he stopped himself. Even if he had never said it, he did trust Tessa. He trusted her with Liam more than he did with his roommate's girlfriend, Amanda. Amanda hadn't done a bad job with Liam and Lip liked having Liam close, but it still felt weird leaving him with Amanda. He didn't like that Liam would be further away from him while he was at school, but it would make his life a little easier and he would know that Liam was safe with Tessa.

"Okay," he agreed after a moment.

Tessa had to try not to show her surprise, not wanting Lip to change his mind.

"Are those my clothes on the floor?" Lip asked, gesturing towards the pile on the floor.

"Yes…" Tessa said slowly. She had forgotten about them, to be quite honest. "I was looking for something earlier and I found them. I pulled them out because I intended to give them back to you since, you know." She shrugged her shoulders, knowing he would understand what she was talking about.

"But," she began. Lip looked over at her, surprised by addition to her last statement.

"You can keep them here if you want. You've been staying here since the whole Fiona fiasco, and it could be one less thing to worry about." She shrugged again.

Caught off guard, she felt Lip grab the side of her face and pull her lips towards his own. His lips molded with hers as he kissed her. For a mere moment, Tessa allowed herself to enjoy the kiss. But after that small moment, she pushed him away.

"Lip, you can't do that," she said, shaking her head. She avoided his gaze.

"Why not?" He asked, growing frustrated by her rejection. "You know I want us to be together. You seem to want that too, so, what is the problem?"

She finally looked at him and she gave him a glare. "Because, Lip. One minute you're pushing me away and telling me to go home and worry about myself, and the next minute you're at my apartment with the kids and you're kissing me." She shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. "It's not fair," she mumbled.

Lip stared at her, willing her to look at him, but she wouldn't. He was at a loss for words. It appeared that Tessa had that effect on him. He always knew the right thing to say, except with her.

He leaned forward so his elbows were resting on his knees. His hands clasped together and he stared at the floor. He shouldn't be dealing with this shit. Tessa was supposed to be the one constant in his life, and he couldn't even get that right. While part of him longed for the careless relationship of just having sex, he knew he would never be able to give up what he had with Tessa.

"You know what I think?" Lip finally asked. He didn't wait for her to answer. "I think us not being together isn't fair."

Tessa finally looked up at him. She looked at him with her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth slightly agape. She had no idea what he was thinking. "What the fuck does that mean?" She asked.

A dry chuckle escaped his lips. He looked over at her and sat up. "It means that instead of worrying about all the little things, you should just admit that we should be together. It's not fair that you're preventing us from being happy. From being…us."

She shook her head and scoffed. "And what 'little things' are you referring to?" She asked.

Lip stood up and threw his arms in the air. "Your issue with long distance. I come home all the time and I'm not even that far away. It's a bullshit excuse, Tessa!"

Tessa opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off before she could say anything.

"And you're always throwing the cheating thing in my face!" He added. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm sorry? You _knew_ how miserable I was after we broke up. We're not even together and I haven't slept with anyone at school. It's all for you!" He snapped. "Priests get more action than me, for Christ's sake."

She rose from her spot on the bed and stood in front of him. "Oh I'm _sorry_ ," she began, sarcasm heavy in her fake apology. "Poor you. I don't know where my sympathy was when I found out you were cheating on me. I was far too busy thinking about how you _broke my heart_ than worrying about how this whole thing affected you. My bad."

"And how many times have I apologized?"

"I don't know! How many apologies do you think it will take for me to forget about you fucking Mandy Milkovich?"

"And I have regretted that since it happened! And I haven't been with, or even wanted to be with, anyone else since this all happened! And I know you haven't either!" He yelled.

Tessa shook her head. "It doesn't really matter how much you regret it or how many times you apologize because in the end, it all hurts just the same."

"And you don't think I'm hurting too? It's torture to see you but not be with you. And the fact that I hurt you fucking kills me. I fucked up. I'm a fuck up. It's what I do. It's the Gallagher way. But I would never fuck up being with you again."

"And I'm just supposed to take your word for it?" She scoffed. "I'm just supposed to shove this under the rug."

Lip ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I just want another chance."

"Do you honestly think that's a good idea given everything that's going on with your family right now?" Tessa asked.

"It's because of everything happening with my family that makes this the right time. We all would have fallen apart this past week if it wasn't for you, Tessa."

She took in a deep breath in an attempt to calm down and gather her thoughts. "I care about you _so_ much. But I can't take another betrayal like that." She shrugged, not sure what else she could say.

"I fucking love you or some shit, Tessa. And I know you feel the same. You told me as much when you were shitfaced all those months ago."

Tessa froze. Lip had never told her about this. Why would he keep something so important to himself for all of these months? Lip moved closer to Tessa and he lowered his voice. "Just give me a chance."

Grabbing either side of his face, Tessa leaned in and kissed Lip.

 _A:N/ What do you all think? Amazing, right? I have to give a HUGE thanks to Kayla who helped me with the Tessa and Lip argument at the end of this chapter. Without her, I'm not sure this conversation would have happened as soon as it did. Let me know what you all think!_


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